The Modern Granary and Farm Bothy.

Granary & Bothy #35 & #36.

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The Granary and Bothy, buildings #35 and #36 on your farm map were additions that were purpose built when the Astors took over the farm and are adjacent to the listed barn and stables.

The word Bothy is of Scotts and North of England origin and was accomodation for single male farm workers, and can be associated with the North American Ranch Bunk House. Items #37. I will explain later in the next blog.

The side block view is to convey the layout and construction of the building. The Granary had two floors. The ground floor was for the milling equipment, which consisted of a rolling mill for oats, primarily for feed for the horses. The second and last addition was a hammer mill, which was used to grind up barley and maise for a diet supplement for the cattle. Grain could be taken up by two methods. Either by walking up the outside stairway, or by a chain block and tackle which could be swung out from a double wayway on the west side of the building. The grain was then fed into a chute to feed the machinery below.

The Bothy was used for the most time during the second world war, when four land girls from the Womens Land Army were billeted in it. As boys we had fun going up into the granary by the wooden stairs, going out through a window into the barn roof valley and onto the flat roof. Then we would tip toe across the roof to the chimney and make ghostly noises down the chimneypot. Of course we had sometime before spread the word among the girls that the Bothy was haunted. Just a devilish thing we got up to.

After it was occupied for the longest time by a Displaced Person and his wife who worked on the farm by the name of Fedor. Fedor was quite a gardener and I remember he grew his own tobacco.